Myripristis hexagona, FRLM 30646, 14.1 cm SL
Myripristis hexagona (Lacepède, 1802)
Doubletooth soldierfish
|
|
D XI, 13 - 15; A IV, 11 - 14; P1 14 - 16; LLp 25 - 29; GR 12 - 17 + 24 - 34. Body moderately deep; corner of preopercle without a sharp spine; lower jaw prominently projecting; 2 pairs of tooth patches anteriorly on lower jaw just outside gape; vomerine teeth in a broad V-shaped patch; numerous small scales in ventral part of axil of pectoral fins. Color: scales of body silvery to white, the edges dark red to reddish brown; a board red band from upper end of gill opening to axil of pectoral fin, enclosing opercular membrane which is darker red or reddish brown; iris red, sometimes with a blackish blotch above and below pupil; spinous dorsal fin light red and whitish basally, broadly bright red distally; soft dorsal, anal, and caudal fins pale red, the distal part of the lobes of these fins more red than the proximal part. Size: maximum length about 20 cm. Distribution: Indo-Pacific: East Africa to Samoa, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia. Remarks: a reef-associated species found in moderately shallow water to the depth of 40 m. Feeds at night, mainly on zooplankton.
|
 
|
|